Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Thinking about buying 2011 i5...thoughts

L

lancerland

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 8, 2014
4
0
Current setup: early 2008 iMac, 4gb ram, 250mb HD

I was originally looking at getting a brand new 27in iMac from the apple store for around $3,000, but then my buddy decided to sell is 2011 i5 for $650. I am a graphic designer and my creative suite crawls when I am working in it. In photoshop in particular I have to wait 30 seconds for a 50mb file to open.

So my questions are do you think I will see a significant increase in speed while working in creative suite with the i5. I plan on upgrading the ram to 16gb as soon as I get it.

I know it will be faster, but I guess my concern is, that I have never purchased a used computer before, and I don't want to be disappointed. So if anyone out there has had a similar scenario could you let me know how it went.

Thanks
 
Twimfy

Twimfy

macrumors 6502a
Sep 11, 2011
888
246
UK
lancerland said:
Current setup: early 2008 iMac, 4gb ram, 250mb HD

I was originally looking at getting a brand new 27in iMac from the apple store for around $3,000, but then my buddy decided to sell is 2011 i5 for $650. I am a graphic designer and my creative suite crawls when I am working in it. In photoshop in particular I have to wait 30 seconds for a 50mb file to open.

So my questions are do you think I will see a significant increase in speed while working in creative suite with the i5. I plan on upgrading the ram to 16gb as soon as I get it.

I know it will be faster, but I guess my concern is, that I have never purchased a used computer before, and I don't want to be disappointed. So if anyone out there has had a similar scenario could you let me know how it went.

Thanks
Click to expand...

Buy it. Stick an SSD in it if you can. You'll be happy for many years to come. Even if you don't do the SSD option you will see a HUGE increase in performance. C2D to an i5 is a significant upgrade. I don't know much about the US prices but that looks like a good deal to me.
 
L

lancerland

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 8, 2014
4
0
Thanks for your reply. I took a look at adding a SSD myself, and that does not seem like something I want to do. Would an apple store do that for me? Adding the RAM I can do though.
 
M

macthefork

macrumors 6502
Feb 2, 2013
467
7
I'm perfectly happy with the speed of my 2011 i5 2.7Ghz 27" iMac. No problem with opening large files in Photoshop. I did put in the 32 GB RAM, but 16 would likely be enough for your situation. I also have installed a 480GB SSD and left the original 1TB drive in place.

As far as the SSD, it REALLY speeds up loading from the drive. Unbelievably fast. It wasn't so difficult to install, either if you're gentle and take your time. (and no shortcuts)

Here's the video I used to do it and you can see if it's something you'd want to tackle.

Apple won't install a SSD. But an authorized Apple service center might. Also, OWC has a program where you send your iMac to them, and they will do it.

I am no way afilliated with OWC, but have used many of their products.
 
Last edited:
L

lancerland

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 8, 2014
4
0
macthefork, thanks for your response. I thought this model could only go up to 16GB? How did you get 32 in there?
 
keysofanxiety

keysofanxiety

macrumors G3
Nov 23, 2011
9,539
25,302
lancerland said:
macthefork, thanks for your response. I thought this model could only go up to 16GB? How did you get 32 in there?
Click to expand...

4x8GB DIMMs. Similar to Apple's cMBP where they said it'll only support max of 8 -- it supports 16 no problem (2x8GB DIMMs).
 
M

macthefork

macrumors 6502
Feb 2, 2013
467
7
Officially, this model supports four 4 GB modules -- one in each slot for a maximum of 16 GB of memory. However, third-parties have discovered that it actually will support 32 GB of memory using four 8 GB modules.

I've got four 8GB modules of Crucial RAM in mine, with no problem. Many other brands will work, too. Just go to crucial's site, or OWC, or others, and put in your imac model number to find the correct RAM.
 

Attachments

  • Screen Shot 2014-01-08 at 10.22.32 PM.png
    Screen Shot 2014-01-08 at 10.22.32 PM.png
    39.3 KB · Views: 51
A

andytaff

macrumors newbie
Nov 7, 2013
4
0
leicester
i bought a 27" 2011 as it had the thunderbolt connection and i put an ext.SSD (laCie) on it and up'd it to 16GB ram for CS6 and lightroom 4 work..i'm well impressed with it's speed.. got for it!
 
M

madeirabhoy

macrumors 68000
Oct 26, 2012
1,612
558
macthefork said:
I'm perfectly happy with the speed of my 2011 i5 2.7Ghz 27" iMac. No problem with opening large files in Photoshop. I did put in the 32 GB RAM, but 16 would likely be enough for your situation. I also have installed a 480GB SSD and left the original 1TB drive in place.

As far as the SSD, it REALLY speeds up loading from the drive. Unbelievably fast. It wasn't so difficult to install, either if you're gentle and take your time. (and no shortcuts)

Here's the video I used to do it and you can see if it's something you'd want to tackle.

Apple won't install a SSD. But an authorized Apple service center might. Also, OWC has a program where you send your iMac to them, and they will do it.

I am no way afilliated with OWC, but have used many of their products.
Click to expand...

sorry to hijack this thread, i have a 27" 2011 imac which i bought refurbished. i was thinking about getting an SSD that connected through thunderbolt, but do you mean i can put one internal and still have the original internal drive in there too?
 
M

macthefork

macrumors 6502
Feb 2, 2013
467
7
madeirabhoy said:
sorry to hijack this thread, i have a 27" 2011 imac which i bought refurbished. i was thinking about getting an SSD that connected through thunderbolt, but do you mean i can put one internal and still have the original internal drive in there too?
Click to expand...


Yep... There's a second, unused SATA connector on the logic board that you connect it to. The SSD itself sits behind the Optical drive, with the original drive remaining in place.

The installation video guide linked in my above post shows exactly how to do it, and what's needed in the way of cables and tools.
 
M

Mr-Kerrse

macrumors 6502
Apr 1, 2011
273
0
United Kingdom
macthefork said:
Officially, this model supports four 4 GB modules -- one in each slot for a maximum of 16 GB of memory. However, third-parties have discovered that it actually will support 32 GB of memory using four 8 GB modules.

I've got four 8GB modules of Crucial RAM in mine, with no problem. Many other brands will work, too. Just go to crucial's site, or OWC, or others, and put in your imac model number to find the correct RAM.
Click to expand...

Where do you get the 8gb modules as the ones they offer are only in 4's :confused:

http://www.crucial.com/uk/store/listparts.aspx?model=iMac%203.06GHz%20Intel%20Core%20i3%20(21.5-inch%20-%20DDR3)%20Mid%202010&Cat=RAM
 
Klae17

Klae17

macrumors 65816
Jul 15, 2011
1,227
1,578
lancerland said:
Current setup: early 2008 iMac, 4gb ram, 250mb HD

I was originally looking at getting a brand new 27in iMac from the apple store for around $3,000, but then my buddy decided to sell is 2011 i5 for $650. I am a graphic designer and my creative suite crawls when I am working in it. In photoshop in particular I have to wait 30 seconds for a 50mb file to open.

So my questions are do you think I will see a significant increase in speed while working in creative suite with the i5. I plan on upgrading the ram to 16gb as soon as I get it.

I know it will be faster, but I guess my concern is, that I have never purchased a used computer before, and I don't want to be disappointed. So if anyone out there has had a similar scenario could you let me know how it went.

Thanks
Click to expand...

You are going to see a huge difference from your current computer and save a LOT of money. Install more ram (32 GB) and SSD and you will drool over it's speed. You will be saving close to $2000!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom